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Costa Rica Bridges - June 12, 2016
Who else is on this tour? I will have my 12 year old daughter and 9 year old son. Curious if there will be more kids around their ages. Can't wait!
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Curious also if any of you plan to take Malaria prevention meds. I have 2 different answers from 2 different doctors. Thoughts?
We met an infectious disease specialist socially last year, he regularly sees clients who contract Malaria while on vacation.
Clothing, very casual, for daytime, lightweight cotton clothing. Save on repellent and sunscreen by wearing lightweight long pants and shirts or t shirts. Hat with a good brim. You will be in rainforest, so you can expect to get wet, even if it is not raining. A lightweight waterproof backpack is a good thing to have and can be used on any type of Tauck tour, and fold up to nothing. These can be found at all price points. No need to be over formal for evening wear. Sometimes I just wear the clean clothing I am going to wear for the next day in the evening. Tip, if you hand wash any items, they take forever to dry because of the high humidity, you might want to avoid doing any laundry yourself for that reason. On our first tour to Costa Rica, I made the mistake of hand washing a cotton bra and after a couple of days had to resort to drying it with the hairdryer, I can't repeat what my husband said when he thought I was taking an eternity to dry my hair on this forum!
Hi, having read your reply, I just looked at various websites, here is one
http://globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/content/ghg/country-briefings/Costa-Rica.pdf
There are others. It seems that there has been a big reduction in the cases of Malaria in Costa Rica since we were last there. But it has not been constant. It just shows how up to date we should be on this subject. It was interesting to read about the increase in hurricanes causing a spike in Malaria and the workers in the banana plantations, this is why I picked out this article to highlight. On our last Costa Rica tour, we drove through banana plantations and our bus stopped at the processing plant and they brought a large tarantula onto the bus for us to look at. Based on what I have been reading and knowing that we have no problems with the medications required to help prevent Malaria in Costa Rica, it must have been Malarone we took, I think we will still take the medication, partly because circumstances could change and there could be a spike in cases. I have also had to look after people with Malaria in the past, and it makes you very very ill. It can recur any time especially when the body is under stress, like in pregnancy, I have seen that several times and probably when someone has a condition that compromises their immune system. It also means if I get a fever within one year of returning, I can assume it is not Malaria.
Regarding your question about footwear, we have never taken hiking boots on any of our more adventurous tours, and thankfully we have not turned our ankles. I do not recall seeing anyone in hiking boots or shoes with ankle protection. Certainly shoes with a good tread or grip are extremely useful because of the chance of a muddy terraine. Believe it or not, even when the tour guide gives you a briefing on suitable footwear for the day, there are those who ignore the semsible advice, some on our Galapagos tour wore flip flops on the sharp jagged lava flow rocks. On another tour, someone wore old sneakers where the tread had completely worn down and they slipped and fell and were injured, tip here, don't wear sneakers that have no tread left. Most people do wear Keen type shoes or closed toe sandals. Once again there are shoes of this type at every price point, you do not have to pay a fortune. enjoy Costa Rica, we are going again next year!